TITLE 18
Fiduciaries

CHAPTER 18-16
Rhode Island Short Form Power of Attorney Act

SECTION 18-16-3

(a) In a statutory short form power of attorney, the language conferring general authority with respect to real estate transactions shall be construed to mean that the principal authorizes the agent:

(1) To accept as a gift, or as security for a loan, to reject, to demand, to buy, to lease, to receive, or otherwise to acquire either ownership or possession of any estate or interest in land;

(2) To sell, to exchange, to convey either with or without covenants, to quit claim, to release, to surrender, to mortgage, to encumber, to partition or to consent to the partitioning, grant options concerning, to lease or to sublet, or otherwise to dispose of, any estate or interest in land;

(3) To release in whole or in part, to assign the whole or a part of it, to satisfy in whole or in part, and to enforce by action, proceeding or otherwise, any mortgage, encumbrance, lien or other claim to land which exists, or is claimed to exist, in favor of the principal;

(4) To do any act of management or of conservation with respect to any estate or interest in land owned, or claimed to be owned, by the principal, including, but not limited to, power to insure against any casualty, liability or loss, or obtain or to regain possession or to protect any estate or interest by action, proceeding or otherwise, to pay, to compromise or to contest taxes or assessments, to apply for refunds in connection with it, to purchase supplies, to hire assistance or labor and to make repairs or alterations in the structures or lands;

(5) To utilize in any way, to develop, to modify, to alter, to replace, to remove, to erect or to install structures or other improvements upon any land in which the principal has, or claims to have, any estate or interest;

(6) To demand, to receive, to obtain by action, proceeding or otherwise, any money or other thing of value to which the principal is, or may become, or may claim to be, entitled as the proceeds of an interest in land or of one or more of the transactions enumerated in this section, to conserve, to invest, to disburse or to utilize anything received for purposes enumerated in this section, and to be reimbursed for any expenditures properly made by him or her in the execution of the powers conferred on him or her by the statutory short form power of attorney;

(7) To participate in any reorganization with respect to real property and to receive and to hold any shares of stock or instrument of similar character received in accordance with the plan of reorganization, and to act with respect to it, including, but not limited to, power to sell or otherwise to dispose of those shares, or any of them, to exercise or to sell any option, conversion or similar right with respect to the plan of reorganization, and to vote on it in person or by the granting of a proxy;

(8) To agree and to contract, in any manner, and with any person and on any terms, which the agent may select, for the accomplishment of any of the purposes enumerated in this section, and to perform, to rescind, to reform, to release or to modify this agreement or contract or any other similar agreement or contract made by or on behalf of the principal;

(9) To execute, to acknowledge, to seal and to deliver any deed, revocation, declaration, mortgage, lease, notice, check or other instrument which the agent may think useful for the accomplishment of any of the purposes enumerated in this section;

(10) To prosecute, to defend, to submit to arbitration, to settle, and to propose or to accept a compromise with respect to, any claim existing in favor of, or against, the principal based on or involving any real estate transaction or to intervene in any action or proceeding relating to it;

(11) To hire, to discharge, and to compensate any attorney, accountant, expert witness or other assistant or assistants when the agent deems this action to be desirable for the proper execution by him or her of any of the powers described in this section, and for the keeping of needed records of these actions; and

(12) In general, and in addition to all the specific acts enumerated in this section, to do any other act or acts, which the principal can do through an agent, with respect to any estate or interest in land.

(b) All powers described in this section shall be equally exercisable with respect to any estate or interest in land owned by the principal at the giving of the power of attorney or thereafter acquired, whether located in the state of Rhode Island or elsewhere.